A FIREFIGHTER sacked for being overweight is a key member of the team and makes an outstanding firedoor, his colleagues said last night.
The men of Red Watch said Kevin Ogilvie has the perfect physique for the job and they often use him to extinguish out-of-control bonfires just by sitting on them.
Ogilvie was also deployed as a mobile dike during last summer's floods, while his huge bulk has provided a soft landing for thousands of cats.
Tom Logan, a fellow Red Watch member, said: "I've lost count of the times Kev has saved my life, although I was off work for six months after he stood on my foot.
"When we head into a burning house he heads straight for the kitchen to make sure no-one is trapped in the fridge."
However, station commander Bill McKay said Ogilvie was a walking chip-pan who could destroy a whole building if he went off.
McKay added: "He uses up all the oxygen just getting out of the truck, he's buckled four ladders and we can longer afford the diesel to drive him about.
"This lot are supporting him, but they won't follow him into a burning building after lunch and face being wiped out by his deadly backdraft."
